Born of Legend (39 page)

And that made him deadlier than ever.

 

C
HAPTER
13

“This is bullshit! I demand to see the Gorturnum HAP! Now!”

Standing in the main landing bay where Ushara had been summoned twenty minutes ago to deal with this
lovely
situation, she shook her head at Malys Venik. As the wife of Brax Venik, the High Admiral of the Porturnum Tavali and a Qillaq warrior, this creature was a handful. She'd come in with a few of her husband's ships that had been damaged in a League ambush. As such, Malys was demanding that Ushara turn over a dozen of the Gorturnum's fastest ships to her crews to get them home.

Yeah, like that would happen.

When the hottest pits of Tophet froze over.

While they were all Tavali, they were not that close a family and it didn't entitle Malys to Gorturnum ships that were personally owned by their crews or Trajen.

Not to mention, this blatant disregard for Ushara's rank and position was really beginning to piss her off, and it was taking everything she had not to resort to punching out the female for it. She was, after all, Pavakahira Andarion, and the urge to light this Qill on fire was hard to suppress. “I'm the VA in charge here, Commander Venik, and you will deal with
me
.”

Tall and insanely gorgeous in her skintight red battlesuit, Malys raked a withering sneer down Ushara's body. “I don't deal with the second string, sweetie. Yerek? Move this little fluff out of my way.”

When the giant mountain stepped forward at Malys's command, a deep, resonant voice rang out.

“Yerek, that would be a
profoundly
bad idea for you, that would have devastating consequences on your future health and mobility. Seriously, I suggest you retreat and take a coffee break.”

Ushara had to bite back a smile at Jullien's cold, deadly tone that carried the full weight of his regal birth. That was the voice of a male used to commanding armies and being obeyed without fail. She glanced at him over her shoulder and then had to do a double-take as she caught sight not of the vagabond male she was used to seeing, but of a stunning stranger.

This wasn't the immaculate, haughty fop she'd seen in old media photos who'd been the tahrs of Andaria, or the adorable ragamuffin who'd won her heart. The male approaching them was barely recognizable.

Dressed black-on-black in a Tavali armstitch battlesuit with a long leather and suede coat, he was all lethal predator. And the flared colonial style looked good on him. Each side of the coat was tied back to show the presence of his custom silver-handled blasters. Not that he needed them to look tough with the deadly aura that surrounded him. It was enough to terrify anyone with an ounce of self-preservation.

His silver-trimmed holster matched the garrotte chain he wore around his left wrist and his new buckled boots. He now sported a pair of black leather fingerless gloves and a custom holster, as well as dark sunglasses that hid his eyes from them so that no one could tell where he was looking. An unnerving tactical advantage that was employed by League assassins.

The only thing left of the old Jullien was the long black scarf that he still wore around his neck, and his sexy, well-trimmed whiskers that he somehow managed to keep from ever becoming a full beard.

He was gorgeous and seductive, and she wasn't the only one who noticed.

In fact, the amount of attention that was on him now was beginning to anger her more than this current situation. Even Malys's features softened as a slow, appreciative smile spread across her face.

“Well, what have we here?” The smile faded as she saw Jullien's arm patches and she realized he held no real rank. “You dare threaten your superior with violence?”

Jullien snorted derisively. “He's not my superior in
any
way, and it's not a threat,
mu tara
. Rather an absolute promise of extreme and gory violence on his body. He approached my admiral with hostile intent. He's lucky I haven't gutted him.” Then he passed a charming grin to Ushara. “I got around to reading the manual.”

“God help us now,” she teased him.

“Or at the very least, your brother since it's his ass in the hot seat for my actions.… He's so going to seriously regret being
my
CO.” Jullien turned back toward Malys. “Means I have free rein to make you unhappy. I sincerely like that thought.”

“Have you any idea who I am?”

“No, and I honestly don't care when you threaten the VA of this Nation.”

“I will have you whipped.”

Jullien gave her a chilling smile. “Last one who tried that died in agonizing pain, while calling my paternity into question.”

Malys's nostrils flared as she realized that Jullien wasn't about to heel. She faced Ushara. “Are you going to let him talk to me like this? With impunity?”

Ushara ground her teeth. Andarion males didn't back down, especially not stralen ones. Jullien was protecting her. But Malys was a Qill and they didn't retreat either. This was a bad situation and she had no idea how to diffuse it.

A tic started in Jullien's jaw. “I believe what we have here is what the Overseer of Justice and her council would call a failure of competing goals. You broke your ships. And that's a damn shame. You should learn to pilot them better. Now you expect us to hand over ours without compensation. Were we to march into your territory and do that, Venik would tell us to kiss his large Andarion ass. Given what I know about the history between Venik and Thaumarturgus, I really don't think you want to take that meeting you're insisting on. So instead of trying to manhandle my VA, I suggest you thank her for saving your lives.”

Malys closed the distance between them. “You're Andarion?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Caste?”

“Given my bearing and syntax, I should think it obvious.”

“Then you should know my husband will do as I request of him. As the mother of his children, I hold Brax's full loyalty. Therefore, you should fear him and me.”

“And my wife holds mine. Therefore, you better damn well fear me, and you should be quaking before her.”

“Your wife?”

Jullien stepped back to bow toward Ushara. “I believe you are more than acquainted with her.”

Malys paled instantly as she finally understood the full dynamic of what was happening.

Ushara closed the distance between them while Malys leaned in to whisper near Jullien's ear.

“Are you wearing those glasses for the reason I suspect?”

“Yes.”

She paled even more. “It appears I've overstepped my bounds, Admiral Altaan. However, it's imperative that I get our ships and cargo out of here as soon as possible. What accommodations can you make?”

“I'll get our CP right on it, and let you know. Please feel free to partake of our hospitality until then.” Ushara stepped back. “Zellen? Would you provide an escort for our Porturnum guests and make sure they're cared for until we can see them on their way?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

Jullien didn't speak until they were gone. “Nice code for
watch them
.”

She snorted, then grimaced at him. “I thought you wanted to keep our marriage a secret.”

Screwing his face up into an adorable expression, he scratched at his whiskered cheeks. Now that was the less-than-cocksure Jules she knew so well. “Yeah, I screwed up. And we're all lucky I didn't deck her. If she'd taken one more step at you … it wouldn't have been pretty for any of us. What's the penalty for assaulting a HAP's wife?”

“You don't want to know.”

“Didn't think so.”

Her heart quickened as she tried to see him through those dark glasses. She reached up and removed them. Instead of red, his irises were green, but not their usual hazel color. “What's wrong with your eyes?”

“They're colored contacts to hide the stralen.”

“Is that safe?”

He blinked a few times as if they annoyed him. “It limits my peripheral a little, but not too badly. I've got this set and a pair of solid white ones so that I can look full-blooded. I thought I'd let you pick the ones you preferred since you're the one who has to see them.”

She folded his glasses and handed them to him. “I like your real eyes, whatever color they are. It makes no never mind to me so long as you're happy with them.… But,” she paused to smile up at him. “I have to admit to having a preference for the stralen. Only because when I see them, I know it means you're still mine.”

“That I will always be.”

Ushara bit her lip as she ran her hand along his scarf. “Tavali looks good on you.”

“Good enough to eat?” he teased lightly.

She laughed. “Someone might overhear you.”

“It's not the overhearing that concerns me.” He cast a pointed stare downward.

Ushara followed the line of his gaze to see the large bulge that was quite evident in his tight pants. Her husband had been rather gifted by the gods in that department. Heat exploded over her face.

Clearing his throat, Jullien reached behind his back to untie his coat. “Don't move away for second,” he said under his breath.

“I should.”

“Only if you want to embarrass us both.” He quickly buttoned his coat all the way down and folded his arms over his chest. “I'm heading to work now. You?”

“Work.”

He gave a charming nod before he took a step back. “Oh, I forgot to mention that I have a new link.” He pulled it out. “I need your digits again.”

“What happened to your other one?”

“Got compromised.”

“How so?”

When he didn't answer, she became worried. “Jules?”

“A threat came through. No idea how they traced me.”

“Viable?”

“Enough that I destroyed it.”

Her heart sank at the thought of what he'd lost. “Did you salvage anything?”

He shook his head. “Wasn't worth the risk.”

“You have
nothing
left from it?”

“I don't need anything from my past.”

No! Tears filled her eyes as she thought about the picture of his parents. It was all he'd been able to keep from his former life.

Now he had nothing whatsoever.

Not a single memory at all.

“
Keramon—”

“Don't, Shara,” he said sharply. “I'm not like you. I don't have those happy memories of a warm childhood that I want to hang on to. Really, I'm okay with letting go. There's absolutely nothing I want from my past except to forget it ever happened. As far as I'm concerned, my life began when I opened my eyes on Gavin's ship and saw you standing over me.”

Choking on a sob, she hugged him. “I love you so much.”

“Not the way to keep our marriage a secret, love.”

“I know.” She kissed his cheek, then linked their lines. “Go to work. Try not to go to jail.”

He snorted irritably. “Make no promises.”

Shaking her head, she watched as he headed toward Sheila's office.

Dayam. That loping swagger …

She wanted to follow him, rip those clothes off, pin him to the nearest wall and ride that long hard body until he begged her for mercy. How strange that she'd never felt this degree of desire for Chaz.

But then Chaz have
never
looked like
that
.

“You are drooling,
kisa
.”

Ushara growled at the sound of Ryna's voice in her ear. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to give you a heads-up that Paka knows about your marriage.”

She went cold with dread at those unexpected words. Crap … “What? How?”

“You know how it goes. Zellen told his wife who called her sister who called her sister who called her friend who called our mother who ran to Paka who is now furious at
you
.” Ryna hugged her. “For what it's worth, I'm on your side. So are the twins and Mary.”

“Thank you.”

Pressing her cheek to Ushara's, Ryna purred in her ear. “He has a fine little ass, doesn't he?”

“You're not supposed to be ogling my husband's ass, sister.”

She stuttered. “I can't help the fact he's bending over in that office. You think Sheila dropped her stylus on purpose?”

“Are you trying to piss me off?”

Ryna laughed. “Sorry. I'll stop admiring his ass now.”

“So how mad is Paka?”

“On a scale of one to ten … about thirty.”

Ushara cringed. “Great. Let me deal with Venik, then I'll deal with this.”

How much worse was this day going to get?

And when she'd asked that question, she'd meant for it to be rhetorical, not a personal challenge to the gods. Yet everything went wrong for the rest of the day.

Everything
.

By the time she'd found transport for Malys and crew, and had a workable solution for them, she'd been ready to pull her hair out from dealing with the older shrew.

She was already two hours late heading home and her nerves were raw and ravaged, ready to break in half.

Exhausted and irritable, she opened her door and was greeted by the foreign sound of raucous laughter. And clashing metal. Sounds of battle and cursing.

What the…?

Curious and a little worried, Ushara went to the back courtyard where the door was ajar to find Jullien and Vasili outside, playing with toy battle drones. They were attacking each other's “beast” and insulting their abilities, and running around like two small kids. She'd never seen anything like this as they went in circles around each other with total careless abandon, jumping over furniture, shrubs, and each other.

“I thought you said you were good at this,
chizzi
?” Jullien ducked as Vas's drone fired at his head and narrowly missed it.